Drying and Drawing

One of my many routines in an effort to maximize my time spent is to do what I call "work up" drawings while canvases are being gessoed and while they are drying between layers.  The oil primer gave me a slightly more extended period with which to do this.  I like to take many pictures, draw parts of them from all angles, and even switch limbs or heads if I feel it helps the composition, the emotional effect, or the narrative.  I spent a couple afternoons at the local library working up some of the drawings I plan to use for my new paintings.  They are based on a visit my Grandmother-in-law had from a neighbor, which because they are farmers only happens during a rainstorm.  I have met this woman many times.  I use pictures, but I use the drawings and memory even more, and I like to revisit the subject personally as well later on in the process.  It's like an all out stocking of the subject.  I remember Francis Bacon saying in an interview that he couldn't work from a photo of a stranger really, there has to be an emotional connection.  He also said that he wants his work to have a trace of human existence similar to the way a slug leaves slime.  I have always remembered that line.  I only want to draw as well as I need to in order to paint.  I remember a friend saying to me about my drawings, "really, all smudgy?"